Netflix’s Speed Test Exposes Australia’s Broken Internet

Netflix has compiled its latest internet speed index of the 29 countries it operates in, and the results look particularly bad for Australia. The country, which gained Netflix’s video-on-demand streaming service back in March this year, is ranked 19th out of 29 countries with an average national speed of 2.82Mbps, behind even fellow Antipodean newcomer New Zealand. Although not rock bottom, it exposes Australia’s lousy internet, and the ISPs that provide it.

“This month, Australia and New Zealand joined the speed index, ranking 18 and 14, respectively on the list of 29 countries we rank. Performance for Australian ISPs was impacted by consumer demand exceeding the forecasts Netflix provided. We are working closely with these ISPs and expect performance to improve in the coming months.”

The following table shows Australians which ISP you should opt for if you want to run Netflix in HD, or just want a decent internet connection, full stop:

Rank

Provider

Average speed (Mbps)

Services offered

1

TPG

3.36

ADSL, NBN

2

Optus

3.27

ADSL, NBN, Cable

3

iiNet

3.24

ADSL, NBN, Cable

4

Primus

3.03

ADSL, NBN

5

Exetel

2.56

ADSL, NBN

6

Dodo

2.29

ADSL, NBN

7

Telstra

2.23

ADSL, NBN, Cable

Meanwhile, in the Northern hemisphere, Canada leads internet speeds in the Americas, followed closely by the US, while the UK has some of the worst speeds in Europe, trumped by Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, amongst many, many others, ahead of just Ireland, France, and Finland.